At the oversight hearing, led by Chairman Robert Brady, D-Pa., and Ranking Republican Dan Lungren, R-Calif., Members heard testimony from Karl W. Schornagel, Inspector General for the Library of Congress, Dr. James Billington, Librarian, Library of Congress, and Laura Campbell, Chief Information Officer of the Library of Congress. They were accompanied by Jo Ann Jenkins, Chief Operating Officer of the Library of Congress.

According to Schornagel, “the Library has made tremendous progress in IT, but in order to remain the leader, the Library needs to take several significant steps to evolve.” In addition to suggesting the Library migrate to a more cohesive IT strategy, like comparable federal agencies, he recommended that the Library empower its IT Security Group with the ability to implement higher security standards.

Laura Campbell, Associate Librarian for Strategic Initiatives and Chief Information Officer, provided the historical context for the LOC’s current IT infrastructure and addressed some of the Library’s most significant accomplishments over the past decade. These accomplishments included developing strategies to collect and catalog new “digital objects” and utilizing web-based technologies to expand access to Library resources.

In response to the testimony, the Ranking Republican emphasized the ongoing importance of cyber-security and the manner in which the Library safeguards its IT system. “We must ensure that the Library’s IT infrastructure can adapt to the ever-changing security challenges of the 21st Century,” said Lungren.